ASU grads break employment record

November 07, 2007

As the MBA marketplace expands, the value of a master’s of business administration degree has never been better, particularly in the southwestern United States.<separator></separator>For graduates of ASU’s W. P. Carey MBA Full-Time Program, this is proven by the employment figures for the May graduating class. At 90 days post-graduation, 97.4 percent of graduates had accepted a job offer.<separator></separator>The 2007 graduating class also broke the record for starting base salary of full-time program graduates. This year’s class reports a mean base salary of $86,001 and a mean signing bonus of $15,334. The class posted an increase of about 20 percent in total compensation over the 2006 class.<separator></separator>The MBA marketplace in the Southwest is growing and prosperous, says Guy Groff, director of the Graduate Career Management Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Among the 2007 graduates, 46.6 percent accepted jobs in the Southwest, including the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Texas, while 26 percent accepted jobs in the western states of California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.<separator></separator>Among companies recruiting from the pool of W. P. Carey MBA graduates are IBM, Honeywell, CISCO and Oracle.<separator></separator>“Our W. P. Carey MBA students get hired very quickly, and at increasingly higher and higher salaries,” says Gerry Keim, associate dean of the program. “This is the ultimate test of our MBA program.”<separator></separator>The Graduate Career Management Center (CMC) is an important component of the W. P. Carey MBA Full-Time and Working Professional programs. The center provides students and alumni with personalized career development services to make informed, strategic career choices, and to provide a foundation for lifelong career management.<separator></separator>“One thing that differentiates the W. P. Carey MBA Program from other top business schools is the Graduate Career Management Center,” says Josh Fotheringham, senior manager of strategy and planning at Avaya Inc., and a 2005 W. P. Carey MBA graduate.<separator></separator>Fotheringham travels regularly to ASU to recruit MBA students for Avaya’s leadership rotational program.<separator></separator>Most critical to Fotheringham’s MBA career was “how the CMC helped to refine my skills in interviewing, resume-creation and executive presentations,” he says. “The CMC produces strong theories on the best way to approach an interview and how to anticipate specific questions.<separator></separator>The structure and guidance provided by the center helps students to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, to be able to be selected for high-end, top-salary jobs.”<separator></separator>Through seminars, Webinars, personal growth panels and guest speakers, the center offers customized career guidance and networking opportunities. A team of career development specialists works with students during their MBA experience and post-graduation to assist in the interviewing and job selection process. The center also features online resources that are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week.<separator></separator>Erin Concors, erin.concors@asu.edu (480) 965-9271 W. P. Carey School of Business